Mahabharata · Chapter 13.107
uktaṃ te gopradānaṃ vai nāciketamṛṣiṃ prati /
māhātmyamapi caivoktamuddeśena gavāṃ prabho //
nṛgeṇa ca mahadduḥkhamanubhūtaṃ mahātmanā /
ekāparādhādajñānātpitāmaha mahāmate //
dvāravatyāṃ yathā cāsau niviśantyāṃ samuddhṛtaḥ /
mokṣaheturabhūtkṛṣṇastadapyavadhṛtaṃ mayā //
kiṃ tvasti mama sandeho gavāṃ lokaṃ prati prabho /
tattvataḥ śrotumicchāmi godā yatra vasantyuta //
bhīṣma uvāca /
atrāpyudāharantīmamitihāsaṃ purātanam /
yathā'pṛcchatpadmayonimetadeva śatakratuḥ //
śakra uvāca /
svarlokavāsināṃ lakṣmīmabhibhūya svayā'rciṣā /
golokavāsinaḥ paśye vadatāṃ saṃśayo'tra me //
kīdṛśā bhagavam̐llokā gavāṃ tadbūhi me'nagha /
yānāvasanti dātāra etadicchāmi veditum //
kīdṛśāḥ kimphalāḥ kiṃsvitparamastatra ko guṇaḥ /
kathaṃ ca puruṣāstatra gacchanti vigatajvarāḥ //
kiyatkālaṃ pradānasya dātā ca phalamaśnute /
kathaṃ bahuvidhaṃ dānaṃ syādalpamapi vā katham //
bahvīnāṃ kīdṛśaṃ dānamalpānāṃ vā'pi dīdṛśam / adattvā gopradāḥ santi kena vā tacca śaṃsa me
kathaṃ vā bahudātā syādalpadātrā samaḥ prabho /
alpapradātā bahudaḥ kathaṃ svitsyādiheśvara //
kīdṛśī dakṣiṇā caiva gopradāne viśiṣyate /
etattathyena bhagavanmama śaṃsitumarhasi //
Original text: Mahābhārata (southern recension) · Edition: Śrīman Mahābhāratam, ed. T. R. Krishnacharya and T. R. Vyasacharya, Nirnaya Sagar Press, Bombay 1906–1910; e-text by SARIT (Shrinivasa Varakhedi and others) · SARIT: Search and Retrieval of Indic Texts · SARIT (e-text) via Internet Archive · CC BY-SA 3.0